


The Space Between Words

by RainyJane



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2019-12-25 22:57:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainyJane/pseuds/RainyJane
Summary: Natasha, Sam, Steve, and Wanda narrowly escape their pursuers after receiving a cryptic warning. When Vision catches up with them, can they trust his claims that he comes as a friend?





	1. The Mysterious Stranger

"We're being watched,” Natasha whispered to Sam.

He didn't turn around, or even look startled. “Who?”

“The man sitting alone at the corner table. Blond, dark brown jacket.”

Sam didn't look. He'd already seen him. There weren't many customers in this quiet café in Buenos Aires, and Sam was constantly aware of their surroundings. Not on the level that Nat was, with her years of spy training, but certainly enough to have taken a look at every customer and employee in every place they walked in.

"Think he recognized us?" he asked, raising his cup of coffee to his lips in an effort to look casual.

"Maybe."

Nat was wearing a scarf over her hair, and had skillfully applied makeup to make herself look older and darker. Sam had grown a scruffy goattee and was wearing glasses to obscure his identity. The four fugitive Avengers tried to avoid appearing in public together, since they'd be more recognizeable that way. So far, they're disguises had been working. And the more time passed, the more the Avengers' rift would fade from the global publics' memory and the fewer people would be looking for them.

"Should we go?" Sam asked.

Nat was considering the wisest course of action. It was possible the man had simply recognized them but had no intention of turning them in; there were many people in the world whose admiration for the Avengers and gratitude for them saving the world (not once but thrice now) outweighed the temptation of the reward money offered for any information leading to the rogue Avengers' capture. The man hadn't taken out a cell phone or made any other move to indicate he was signaling anyone of their presence. He'd entered the café a couple of minutes after they had, ordered a coffee, and sat down in a spot where he could see them, but hadn't attempted to conceal himself from them.

"I'm not sure," Nat admitted.

The man was doodling something on his napkin. Nat surreptitiously kept an eye on him. After about another minute, he stood and left, leaving the napkin on the table underneath his coffee mug. When he was gone, Nat went to his table. The first thing she noticed was the coffee cup was full, as if the man hadn't taken a single sip of it, even though she'd seen him lift it to his lips. She moved the cup, and almost dropped it when she saw what was drawn on the napkin: a black widow spider.

She picked the napkin up and turned it over, finding a message written in small, tidy letters on the other side:

_Don't return to Hotel Dorado. It has been compromised. Go to Plaza Vista del Mar, top floor, northwest corner. It is safe there._

It was unsigned.

Sam had noticed Nat's startled reaction to the napkin and joined her. "What is it?"

"We need to get out of here."

They slipped out of the café via an employee exit at the back and made their way to a side alley. They were a block away from the hotel they'd been staying at, a seedy, blighted place called Hotel Dorado. Nat called Steve.

"Hey, where are you?"

"We're almost to the hotel. Why? What's wrong?"

"We just got a message that we've been made. Don't go into the hotel. Meet us at the rendezvous point."

She hung up without elaboration. Their phones might not be secure, considering the resources of the people they were up against.

The emergency rendezvous point Nat had picked out when they first came to the city was in a grove by a lake in a public park a few blocks from the hotel. Steve and Wanda were already there when Nat and Sam arrived.

"You were right," Steve said. "We checked out the hotel. Not only were there military guys staking it out, we actually saw Tony fly over it. They obviously know we were there."

"I told you getting involved in that hostage situation would expose us," Nat said.

"Hey, we saved sixteen people. Yeah, it put us at risk, but putting ourselves at risk to save others is what we do."

"It's what we _did_ , Steve. We're not heroes anymore; we're fugitives. And unless we start acting like it, we won't be for long."

"Can you guys rerun that argument later?" Sam requested. "We need to decide what we're going to do now."

"We should wait until nightfall and head back to the Quinjet on foot," Steve said. "If they know we're in the city, public transportation is going to be too dangerous."

"We should show them the note," Sam said.

Steve looked at Nat. "What note?"

"It's how we knew about the hotel," she said. "There was a guy watching us at the café. I thought he might have recognized us. When he left, he left this." She showed him the napkin.

Steve frowned at it. "And you didn't recognize the man?"

"No. I managed to snap a photo." She brought it up on her phone and showed them. It was a grainy photo at an odd angle, but the mystery man's face was clear enough. "You recognize him?"

Steve shook his head. "How would he know our hotel was compromised? And why would he warn us? Could he be S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"No one I've ever met there, and you'd think he would have indicated that on the note."

Wanda stepped up to get a better look. "He looks like..." She trailed off and shook her head.

"Like what?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen him before, but something about him seems familiar."

"From where?" Sam asked.

"I don't know."

"The place he directed us to is an upscale resort hotel a couple of miles away," Nat said. "It will be easier to get to than the jet, and it's the kind of place no one would think to look for us. The question is, do we trust this?"

"He did warn us about our hotel," Sam said. "He didn't have to do that, and if he hadn't, we'd probably all be in handcuffs by now."

"That's true," Steve said. "But sending us to hide out at a posh hotel sounds like something Tony would do. He could be behind this. Wanda, could you remember this man from Avengers Tower? Could he be one of Tony's employees?"

"I don't know," Wanda repeated contritely.

"I think we might as well check it out," Sam said. "We'll be careful, take a good look before we get close."

Steve looked uncertain.

"If it is Tony, why would he warn us away from an ambush at one hotel just to ambush us at another?" Nat asked.

"I have no idea. And I don't think...if it is Tony...that he would harm us. But do we really want to take that risk?"

Wanda took Nat's phone and stared at the photograph, her brow furrowed. "I think we should go," she said.

Even Nat looked surprised at her. Wanda rarely voiced her opinion these days. Her time in prison had been hard on her. She had been put in a shock collar, a straitjacket, and isolation. The last had been the worst. It had taken a toll on her. Sam had been working with her, teaching her coping techniques for PTSD, and she had been recovering, but she still wasn't back to her old self. She didn't speak as much, she hated being alone, she had little appetite for food and seemingly no specific desire for anything else.

"Why?" Nat inquired.

"I don't know. I just feel like we should check it out." She smiled apologetically. "Maybe I'm just curious."

Nat glanced at Steve. It seemed that with Wanda's imput, he'd made up his mind.

"Okay. Let's see what this guy wants."


	2. Haven

Plaza Vista del Mar was right on the shore of Rio de la Plata. However, the room they had been directed to was at the back of the building. It got the sound of the waves rolling over the beach, but not the view.

Behind the hotel parking lot there was a thickly wooded area. The fugitives were able to approach unseen. From the cover of the trees, they observed the room at the southwest corner of the top floor. The view through binoculars revealed the door to the balcony had been left wide open, and all of the curtains on every window were open, as if to provide an easy way in and assurances that there would be no one waiting for them there.

There was no unusual traffic around the hotel, no indication it was being staked out.

"One person should go in first to make sure it's not a trap," Sam suggested.

"But who?" Steve said.

"Obviously it should be me," Nat said. "I'm most qualified to look for booby traps, and if I'm captured, you can break me out."

"That doesn't work if the trap is set to kill," Steve said thoughtfully. "I'll go first, just in case."

"Maybe I should go in first," said Sam.

"Why?"

"Who do you think they'd rather capture? The enhanced supersoldier, the superspy with hundreds of state secrets in her head and dozens of assassinations on her record, the woman who can literally move things with her mind, or the guy who puts on a suit and flies around? Let's face it, I'm the lowest-value fugitive among us."

"Don't sell yourself short, Wilson," Steve said.

"I should go first," Wanda said. "I'll be able to use my powers to tell if there's anyone waiting for us."

"It won't be people waiting, it will be sensors, microphones, trip wires. I'm going in first. That's final," Nat said.

Steve reluctantly nodded.

Under the cover of twilight, Wanda used her power to levitate Nat to the balcony.

She slipped through the open door without a sound, a gun in each hand.

Every light in the luxury suite had been left on. The first room was silent. It consisted of a living room area with leather couches, a table with a chess set, a dining area, a mini bar, an entertainment center, even a bookshelf stocked with books and games. Off the main room there was a well-stocked kitchen, a large bathroom with a hot tub, and three bedrooms, all with their doors wide open and lights on.

She walked through, checking under and behind anything large enough to conceal a person.

In one of the bedrooms, she found the duffel bags they'd left at their own hotel. There was even the satchel of fake passports, guns, and small-denomination currency she'd left locked in the safe. She frowned at it all. There was no indication of who had left it for them, or why. She took out an electronic sensor and ran it over their belongings, scanning for any signals from tracking devices or listening devices. There were none.

"It looks clear so far," she said to the open channel in her earpiece. "No explosive devices, no listening devices as far as I can tell. It's weird."

"We're coming up," Steve replied.

In a minute, Wanda levitated the rest of them onto the balcony. Steve closed the door behind them, and drew the curtains.

They were all wary, jumpy even. Wanda closed her eyes and lifted her hand, and a glowing red mist radiated from it.

"There's no one else here," she reported. "We're alone."

"Someone left our stuff in the other room," Nat told them.

Sam found a statement on a counter. "This suite is paid up for the next week, in cash."

"This has to be Tony," said Steve. "Who else would do this?"

"I don't know, Tony's a narcissist," Nat said uncertainly. "If he did this for us, he couldn't resist leaving a signature, making sure we know it's him."

"Who else could and would put us in a place like this? It's practically his signature," Steve said, sounding increasingly convinced. "He doesn't want to see us, but he isn't willing to let us get caught either."

Nat frowned, not quite so convinced. It felt too good to be true, a clumsily obvious trap that should have sprung by now.

They all continued searching the rooms until they were satisfied there was nothing else to find. They ended up sitting around the dining table. Nat was trying to figure out what she was missing, Steve trying to decide if it was worth the risk to stay the night, Wanda puzzling over why the man in the photograph seemed so oddly familiar, and Sam weighing their chances of not getting caught in the hotel versus out on the street.

"Well," Sam said, breaking the silence and rising to his feet. "Life is short and I'm starving. I'm getting some food. If it's poisoned, I'll die of poisoning instead of starvation."

"It's more likely to be drugged than poisoned," Nat pointed out, but didn't stop him as he started assembling a sandwich from some ingredients in the fridge.

Steve joined him, and Wanda followed them hesitantly.

"You don't want anything?" she asked Nat.

She shook her head. "One of us needs to stay conscious."

Sam and Steve sat at the table to eat their sandwiches. Wanda started looking through the fridge and cupboards. There was cold cereal, oatmeal, coffee, tea, rice, cans of soup, a spice rack.

One of the spices caught her eye: set amid the salt, pepper, sugar, and cinnamon was a single jar of rózsa paprika.

She stared at it for a long moment.

"Wanda, what is it?" Sam asked.

"I know who...I know who did this for us," she said.

"Who?" Steve asked.

She touched the jar of paprika. "It's Vision."

"Vision? How do you know?" Nat asked.

"I just know."

She sensed the others grow tense behind her.

"If that's true, maybe we should get out of here," Steve suggested.

"You think Vision's more likely to set a trap for us than Tony?" Nat asked.

"I don't know. Tony's impulsive; he might easily change his mind about the Sokovia Accords in a second. Vision, though... You remember how sure he was that the Accords were the best idea."

"Yeah, but do you really think Vision would set up this elaborate trap for us? Do you think he's even capable of being that devious?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Steve admitted. "But I can't imagine him going behind Tony's back and Ross's back and the U.N.'s back to help us, either. Maybe we shouldn't risk it."

Wanda turned toward them, folding her arms. "I'm staying here," she stated.

Steve looked at her in surprise. "You sure?"

"I feel safe here. I finally feel safe."

Steve stared at her. He wanted to point out that feeling safe and _being_ safe weren't the same thing, but he knew she already knew that. And he couldn't remember her sounding so resolute about something...ever, really. He wasn't sure she'd leave even if he ordered her to.

"Okay. We'll stay, get some rest, lay low until the heat is off." He didn't feel like he had to add he was trusting all their lives to Wanda's gut feeling.

Wanda said little more as they ate. She was lost in thoughts about Vision, wondering why he had helped them and how he'd arranged it, thinking over the things he'd said when they'd last been together, that night at the compound and that brief moment they had on the battlefield. He'd told her he was sorry. He hadn't said what he was sorry for. At the time, she'd thought it was the same thing she was sorry for (namely, absolutely everything), but during the long, indistinguishable days in the Raft, doubts had crept in. Did he just mean he was sorry she'd been hurt? Was he sorry she'd chosen the wrong side? Did he know what would happen to her when she was arrested, and he was sorry in advance that she was going to be imprisoned?

Most of all, she missed him.

She was still thinking about him after supper. She went through the suite again, looking at every detail, hoping for some message from Vision, anything. But there seemed to be none.

Then something tickled at the periphery of her awareness, a presence.

She closed her eyes, letting her powers focus, making sure.

"He's here!" she declared. "Vision! Come on out!"

 


	3. Reunion

Vision had watched his old friends enter the hotel from a distance. He had not been at all sure they would come when he gave Nat the message, especially if she realized who had sent it.

He'd tried to resist the desire to fly closer and check on them, but had finally given in. He resolved that he wouldn't stay long, as his transponder recorded his location, and if he switched it off Tony would immediately be alerted that something was wrong. Being here at all was a risk if anyone suspected he was trying to contact the fugitive Avengers. But hearing Wanda call out his name, he decided to face them. He phased through the roof, finding himself in one of the bedrooms, and walked through the door.

They saw the tall blond man Nat and Sam had encountered in the café walk out of a room they'd all searched.

"Vision?" Steve asked.

He dropped his human disguise, appearing before them with the crimson face they were familiar with.

"I apologize for the deception. I assure you, I have not and will not reveal your location to anyone. My only intention is to help you. Wanda may read me if you don't believe me."

Steve stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head. "That's not necessary. I trust you." He stepped forward and extended his hand. "It's good to see you."

Vision grasped his hand firmly. "You as well, Captain."

"I like your new look," Sam said. "Widow and I didn't even recognize you."

"Thank you. Tony invented a holographic matrix that he integrated into my skin, allowing me to project a hologram of a human male that moves in perfect synchrony with my own body, powered by my... Well, I'm sure you're not interested in the technical details."

"Yeah I am," Sam said.

"How did you find us?" Nat asked.

"When Captain Rogers was sighted rescuing hostages at a bank in São Paulo, we took a closer look at reports to the Sokovia Accords tip line coming in from the region. It included an eyewitness statement putting you at the Hotel Dorado. A jurisdictional dispute between the special operations team under Secretary Ross and the U.N. allowed Tony and myself to arrive first. I entered your hotel room surreptitiously before Tony could gain authorized access. I gathered your belongings and removed them to a concealed location before anyone else could see them. Finding you to warn you was a simple matter of setting up surveillance cameras on every road approaching your hotel. My neural circuits give me the capacity to monitor dozens of feeds at once. I was able to make arrangements for renting this suite at the same time."

"So Tony doesn't know you're helping us?" Steve asked.

"I have not discussed it with him, but I don't know what else he would expect of me. I will not stand by and allow my dearest friends to be incarcerated again."

Nat tilted her head, noting something incongruous in his choice of words: "my dearest friends," not "some of my dearest friends," which would have allowed for Tony and Rhodey. Vision chose his words with too much precision for that omission to be meaningless. And he'd added the word "again," which discounted herself and Steve. It was a slip: he was thinking of one person in particular. He'd wanted to say "dearest friend," but had made it plural to cover his true meaning. He'd meant Wanda.

Wanda had not spoken since Vision entered. She'd barely even moved.

"How's Rhodey?" Nat inquired.

A wave of guilt washed over Vision at the question. "He is adjusting, slowly. He claims not to hold me responsible for his injuries. He calls it 'friendly fire'."

Wanda finally found her voice. "It wasn't your fault, Vision. It was an accident."

He nodded. "It was. But I can't help but feel anguished over it."

"I know," she said, thinking of Lagos.

"Vision, how long can you stay before anyone gets suspicious?" Steve asked.

Vision pulled his focus away from Wanda. "Not long. I am supposed to be assisting in the search for you. However, I will be able to return periodically. Any supplies you need that I have not anticipated, I will bring for you."

"We couldn't ask you to put yourself at risk more than you already have. If anyone finds out what you're doing, you'd be charged with violating the Sokovia Accords. I don't know what they would do to you," said Steve.

"Or what they could do," Sam added. "Think they've thought of a way to lock Vision up, just in case?"

"Even if they couldn't, it would cost Vision his place with the Avengers, his home."

"I know," Vision said. "I accept the risks."

"That's settled then," Nat said quickly before anyone else could raise an objection. The truth was, they couldn't afford to refuse his help. "Rogers, Wilson, we should go get settled in."

"Right," Sam agreed.

They drifted off, leaving Vision and Wanda alone.

Vision half turned toward her, looking down. They were quiet for several long seconds. Then they spoke simultaneously.

"Wanda, I..."

"Vision, I..."

They glanced at each other. Wanda flashed a small, embarassed smile.

"I think the others are giving us a chance to talk," Vision stated.

"Yeah, I think you're right." They had all worked together and trained together in the year before the schism, after all: they all knew that Wanda and Vision had been close friends.

Before.

But neither of them knew exactly what to say.

"How are you?" he asked. "After your imprisonment, I mean. I know you were horribly mistreated."

"I'm alright. It was...hard for me there, but it's over now." Which was true, if she didn't count the panic that would sometimes grip her when she was alone, how positive emotions and sensations had seemed less vivid, less real since she'd gotten out, which she'd learned was a symptom of PTSD, how she couldn't sleep in sleeping bags that were zipped up or blankets that were tucked in because they restricted her movement and reminded her of the straitjacket. But she didn't want Vision to know about any of that. She didn't want him to worry about her, or feel guilty about it.

She couldn't tell if he believed her or not.

"I want you to know how much I regret signing the Accords, of taking Tony's side in the conflict. I should never have participated in confining you to the compound. I know it doesn't make it better, but my only motivation was to protect you."

"It doesn't make it okay, but it does make it better," Wanda said. "And, if it means anything, I never doubted that."

"It does mean something," Vision said thoughtfully. "It means very much to me."

Wanda folded her arms, rolling her shoulders inward. "You want to know the funny thing? Sometimes I still think...I picked the wrong side. Maybe the Sokovia Accords was the right idea. I'm still not sure what was the right thing to do. I went to help Steve because...it was Steve. It was out of loyalty, not knowing what side was right. But I do know what I did to you was wrong. And...I'm so sorry. I am sorry about that every single day."

He looked at her. He wanted to touch her, to reassure her that he didn't hold that against her. But he feared she might draw back, and he didn't think he could bear that. "It seems we are both sorry."

Wanda nodded, remembering the way he'd cradled her after the fight at the airport. She took one step closer to him without even thinking about it, then stopped when she realized what she was doing.

Vision's eyes widened slightly at her movement, not from surprise so much as hope.

"Perhaps we should attempt to move past our actions during the conflict," he said. "I have missed you, Wanda. The compound feels very empty without you."

She took a shaky breath. "I miss you too, Vis."

Encouraged by the step she'd taken toward him, he slowly moved toward her until they were a pace apart. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. He had thought of so many things to tell her, so many ways to tell her what he had come to realize about his feelings for her. But now that the moment was here, he didn't dare. They had been friends, but he was an android, and what would she think of him if she knew he wanted something more with her? Would she think he was foolish? Was he being presumptuous? Selfish?

Her thoughts were traveling down similar paths. The moment she first saw him burst out of the Cradle, she'd been struck with fascination. In the early days of their time on the Avengers together, they had bonded over both being new on the team, their common source of power in the Mind Stone, and the fact that he'd saved her life, and she'd soon admitted to herself she was attracted to him. But she hadn't imagined he might feel the same about her until recently, until hearing the fervor in his voice when he vowed they would protect her. It had been on her mind that night he tried to make her paprikash. She thought she'd discerned something other than a platonic fondness in the way he'd looked at her that night. But it was hard to tell. She'd half dismissed it as wishful thinking.

And now she was even more uncertain. Even if he could be romantically attracted to her, even if he had been, was he now? After what she'd done to him?

Vision realized they'd been looking at each other for nearly a full minute without speaking. "Wanda, over the time we've known each other, I've come to think of you as perhaps my closest friend. I hope...I haven't lost that completely."

"I thought of you as my best friend too," she said. "And if you can forgive me, I'd like to go on thinking that."

Vision smiled in amusement.

"What?"

"I believe we have both been harboring an overblown fear of the damage we inflicted on our bond."

Vision's smile was beautiful, and infectious. Wanda laughed lightly, and the tension between them melted away.

"Maybe you're right." She stared at him, her smile softening. "I can't tell you how good it feels just to see you again."

"I believe I can empathize."

"How have you been doing?" she asked. "I hear about you on the news sometimes. The U.N.'s been keeping you and Tony busy, saving hostages, disarming warlords, getting support to disaster areas."

"I enjoy being able to use my abilities to help when I can, but there can be weeks of inactivity between missions. Tony is very busy, which often leaves me to train alone."

"I'm sorry." She put her hand on his shoulder. "That must get so lonely."

He smiled softly and briefly. "Many people wouldn't consider the possibility that I could suffer from loneliness. But you have never treated me like a robot. You always make me feel...included. Considered."

"I have the advantage that I can feel your mind. I _know_ you're not a robot." She suddenly realized how long she'd let her hand linger on his shoulder. She drew it away. Her fingertips brushed his shoulder, as if her hand were rebelling against her to stay in contact with Vision for just a moment longer. "Besides, you can pass as human now. Don't you ever leave the compound, go out in public, interact with people?"

"I do," he said. "Since getting the hologram installed, I've been going to museums, theaters, concerts. I enjoy those excursions. I delight in being able to participate in so many human activities. But interacting with humans on that level isn't the same. They accept me as they see me, as an illusion. You accept me as I truly am."

Wanda's heart ached for him. She was touched at his words, at the fact that he felt comfortable enough with her to share his insecurities, but she hated the thought of him being lonely. She wanted him to be accepted, to live as full and happy a life as possible. He deserved it as much as anyone else. More than anyone else, in her opinion.

"You could join a book club. I bet you'd like that," she suggested.

"I suppose I would. I'll consider it."

"Have you attended lectures at colleges?"

"Yes."

"Have you been to poetry readings?"

"Not yet, but I would like to."

"Have you been to the beach?"

"I don't anticipate I would enjoy the beach."

"Maybe not. Have you gone out on any dates?"

She'd meant that question to sound casual, merely curious, but from Vision's startled look she was guessing she'd failed.

Vision recovered his composure quickly, trying to cover how pertinent that question was, coming from her. "Of course not."

"Why not? Have you thought about it? I mean...is that something you think you might enjoy?" She was still trying to act casual. They were friends, and friends could talk about things like this, she told herself.

"I...perhaps. If...if I found someone who was interested...who would be..." He couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't give away that the only person he'd ever thought about having a romantic relationship with was her. "But I'm an android. I can't expect anyone would...want to."

"Are you kidding? Vision, you're the nicest person I know, you're smart, you're charming, you're beautiful."

"You think I'm...beautiful?"

Her eyes darted over his face. "I _know_ you're beautiful. Anyone who doesn't see that is wrong." She glanced away. "But you didn't really answer my question."

"Which is?"

"Would you be interested? If there was someone...a woman...who...was interested in you...would you want to?"

He hoped she was talking about herself. He couldn't remember ever feeling so hopeful, or so nervous. "I suppose it would depend on the woman. If she accepted me as I am, if I found myself drawn to her..."

"Are you? I mean...is there anyone you feel drawn to like that?"

She sounded hopeful, with almost a veiled eagerness.

"There is...one woman," he admitted.

Wanda's heart was pounding from nervousness. _Please let it be me,_ she silently pleaded.

"But you haven't asked her out?" she asked.

"I think...it took me a long time to figure out what I was feeling, to accept that I was capable of having those feelings for someone."

"And what about now?" she asked quietly. "Why don't you tell her how you feel now?"

"I'm afraid," he admitted. "What if she doesn't feel the same way about me?"

Wanda could empathize with that fear too well to think of a reassurance. "I don't know. But, in my opinion, any woman would be lucky to have you."

"What about you?" Vision forced himself to ask. If he was making a blunder, at least he was physically able to sink into the floor, which was exactly what he would feel like doing. "Would you consider yourself lucky? If it were you?"

"Yes," she breathed. She'd consider herself the luckiest woman in the world, but she didn't dare say that.

"Wanda..." He tentatively took her hand. His gaze swept over her face, noting the reddening of her lips, the dilation of her pupils—signs of arousal. "It is you."

"Oh thank God." She kissed him, feeling like she couldn't resist for another second.

His lips were hard as rock, but warm, and when a second of surprise wore off, his lips molded against hers. He placed one hand on her back, not pulling her closer, but holding her in place.

For a moment, Vision let the novel sensations wash over him, suppressing conscious thought. Kissing Wanda felt better than he could ever have imagined. The warmth in it, the thrill of it... He'd never felt more human than he did in that moment. But then thought came back, and with it, doubts.

He ended the kiss, but couldn't bring himself to draw away from her. He touched his forehead to hers. She nuzzled his cheek. He felt her breath hot and fast across his lips.

"Was that alright?" he asked. "Did I hurt you?"

"No. Vis, that was amazing."

"I hadn't hoped...a kiss was something I would ever have the privilege of experiencing. Thank you."

"So what did you think? Do you enjoy kissing?"

"I enjoy kissing you. Very much."

"Would you like to do it again?"

He answered by bringing his lips down to hers again. She moved closer to him. Her lips parted, and her tongue touched his lips, as if tasting them experimentally. He opened his mouth to allow her tongue access. He had read descriptions of kisses, and thought he knew what to do, but the the visceral intimacy of the act was unexpected.

Wanda drew away and lay her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, not sure what she meant by the gesture.

After a long moment of silence, Wanda quietly said, "In the Raft, I had nothing to do but think. I though a lot about mistakes I made, mistakes other people made, how it had all gone so wrong. And I thought about you. About how even after what I did to you, you still cared about me when I was down. I wanted to see you so much. That's when I realized how much you've always meant to me. But being in solitary confinement can do things to your mind. Sometimes I thought...I deserved it. I deserved to never see you again after the things I've done."

He held her tighter. "No. Don't think like that. You are an incredible person, Wanda. You never deserved to be arrested, to be confined. Never."

She took a deep, sharp breath. He was holding her, and everything bad was retreating to the background, driven away by his warmth. "Thank you."

He kissed the top of her head.

"Can you stay here tonight?" she asked uncertainly.

Vision wished he could. He wished he could go on holding her, that he could kiss her more. But he realized he'd already stayed too long.

"I can't. Tony and the U.N. will be expecting me to check in and report. If I don't, it won't be long before they track my location."

She drew away, looking at him, and nodded. "I understand."

"But I will return as soon as I safely can. I promise."

She nodded again, not trusting her voice.

"Wanda..." He took her hands, gazing at her. "I will see you soon."

"Okay."

"But I have to go."

"I know."

He brought her hands to his lips, then let them go and headed away.

He found it difficult to leave. It felt wrong. But what he'd said was true; the longer he stayed, the more risk he was subjecting Wanda and the others to.

He glanced back right before phasing through the wall. His last glimpse of Wanda was of her staring at her hands, looking dazed.


	4. More Than He Bargained For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vision goes on his first date. Kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be the final chapter, but as I wrote it I had another idea.

Wanda hadn't expected to fall asleep so soon after her conversation with Vision, but she awoke the next morning in the most comfortable bed she'd ever slept in with her clothes and even shoes still on, and only a vague memory of her head hitting the pillow. Her sleep had been deep and blissfully dreamless. It had been so long, so very long, since she'd slept so well.

She showered and dressed before leaving her bedroom, finding Sam watching TV, and Steve at the table.

"Good morning," Steve said. "You look well rested. How'd you sleep?"

"Great. It's amazing what feeling safe can do for sleep." That and Vision's kisses, she added to herself. A quieter mental voice amended that Vision's forgiveness probably had more to do with it.

"Good." He'd been worried about her. "I saved you some oatmeal. It's on the stove."

"Thanks." She dished up. "Where's Nat?"

"She's out exploring. In disguise, of course. When I saw her this morning _I_ didn't even recognize her for a second."

Wanda laughed.

Natasha returned a few minutes later. She was dressed in a dark blouse over padding that made her look a few pounds heavier than she was. Her makeup was skillfully applied to alter the apparent shape of her face. She wore a wig of long brown hair, and had even changed the rhythm of her walk.

"G'day, mate," she said in a flawless Australian accent. "The good news is there's a shop right downstairs with basics and snacks. We can shack up here for a while if we feel like."

"You can drop the accent now, sheila," Sam said jokingly over his shoulder.

Nat took off her wig and set it gently on a desk. "You mean I can switch back to the American accent you're used to. That's still an accent."

"Yeah, I got it." Sam did not want to get Nat started on another linguistics lecture.

"How did it go with Vision last night?" she asked Wanda.

"Good. We talked. And then he left. He said he'll be back when he can."

Nat nodded thoughtfully. "Good. I need a word with him about our cover story."

"What cover story?" Steve asked.

"It's going to be a lot less suspicious to the hotel staff if it looks like Vision and I are here together, carrying on a secret affair. It would help explain things like him paying for the hotel in cash." She worked a ring off her left ring finger and set it next to her wig. "He and I should let ourselves be seen coming and going together."

That made sense. But Wanda didn't like it. She wished she was the one who could go out with Vision, but, not being the master of disguise that Nat was, she would have to stay hidden and quiet in the hotel room while they were out.

* * *

It still amazed Vision that he could just walk through the front doors of the hotel without anyone giving him a second glance.

It had been a risk telling Tony that, in a desire to experience the world now that he could pass as human, he would be staying at a luxury hotel during his time in Buenos Aires. Tony had not only not questioned it, he said it sounded like a great idea.

Which meant even if Tony tracked his location here, he would have no reason to suspect it had anything to do with the fugitives they were ostensibly hunting.

Unless he decided to drop by for a visit.

Vision had given strict instructions that no one enter the rooms for the time he'd rented them—no housekeeping, any room service items left outside the door.

When he got to the main door of his suite, he raised his hand to knock before reminding himself how that would look on the hallway's security cameras. He used his key card to open the door.

Wanda had been sitting on the couch watching TV with Sam. When she heard the door open, she glanced over her shoulder and immediately rose to her feet to greet him.

"Vis, welcome back!"

"Thank you, Wanda."

He looked at her uncertainly, and she suddenly felt shy.

Steve peeked in from another room. "Hey. What's the news?"

"The search is continuing, but many of the searchers, both among the U.N. forces and Ross's contingent, are convinced that you were able to slip out of the city and escape. It may interest you to know that the staff at the café where I encountered Miss Romanoff and Mr. Wilson were questioned during the course of the investigation. They all claim to have no memory of any of you. It is possible they are telling the truth. It is also possible they are among your supporters."

Wanda stared at him as he spoke. Though she liked his real face more, she could get used to his mask. His human face was handsome, distinguished, and close enough to his true features to be comfortably familiar. And his beautiful voice would attract her no matter what form it came from.

"That's good news," Steve said.

"Tony is considering returning to the States in a day or two if there are no more leads. I made the offer to remain here for a few more days in case there are more reported sightings." Vision said this with a note of uncertainty, almost as if he were asking for permission to stay.

"That's an unexpected level of duplicity for you, Vision," Nat said, coming out of her bedroom. "I'm proud of you. This is going to be easier than I expected."

"What is going to be easier than expected?" he asked in confusion.

"Shaping you into a double agent."

"I...don't think I wish to be a double agent..."

Nat shrugged. "So what do you call helping us hide out while you're supposed to be looking for us? You already _are_ a double-agent. We just need to make sure you're the kind of double-agent who doesn't get caught."

Vision could only nod.

Nat turned away. "Relax a little. I'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Ready for what?"

Nat glanced over her shoulder to answer. "Our date."

* * *

 

Vision had barely been able to exchange a few words with Wanda between Steve questioning him about how his report to Tony went and Sam teasing him about his date with the Black Widow before Natasha returned—wig and cosmetics making her almost unrecognizable, with a low blouse and short skirt calculated to keep the eyes of casual observers from focusing on her face. She tugged Vision out the door, and minutes later they were sitting in a booth in the hotel's restaurant.

Natasha ordered a salad for herself and pasta for Vision, and two glasses of wine. She spoke to the waiter in guide-book Spanish with a heavy Australian accent, rather than the fluent Spanish he knew she was capable of.

She sat beside Vision, rather than across the table from him, which he thought was an odd choice until the food arrived. When they were unobserved, she snuck bites of pasta from his plate and sipped wine from his glass. She stuck to her own food whenever anyone passed by. In this way, she managed to make it look like Vision was consuming his own food.

"Ideally, you don't want a spy with any notable features," she said, quietly continuing her instruction, which she delivered with frequent side glances and quick smiles that would make anyone not close enough to make out her words think she was flirting with him. "Average height, average build, average looks. You're tall enough to stand out in people's minds, and I'm more attractive than optimal. So for us, the trick is to avoid looking like we're trying to avoid being looked at. You can't let anyone get the impression you're hiding anything. This place, for example. Pay for a week at a luxury hotel and the staff are going to be pretty curious if they don't see anyone come or go, but if you and I let ourselves be seen together, they get a story to tell themselves about that suite: you're in town on business, I flew in to spend a romantic week with you without my husband finding out."

Back when she and Steve had run the Avengers, Nat had given training sessions on spycraft for covert operations. Vision had been exempted from those lessons, since his inability to pass as human would have made him less than useless for any such missions. She was giving him a crash course now. She had briefly gone over the so-called "Moscow Rules," but added that seeming  _completely_ unsuspicious can flag someone as suspicious. Some of her advice struck him as contradictory, such as "stay within your pattern" but "don't be predictable."

Vision was increasingly convinced he would make the world's worst spy.

Natasha placed her hand over his sympathetically at his overwhelmed expression, a warm and informal interaction that he would have been sure was genuine if he didn't know her so well. "I know this is frightening. I know you're averse to lying, especially to your friends, but you are going to have to lie. And you're going to have to lie convincingly. Don't rehearse exactly what you'll say if anyone asks you if you've had contact with us, just have the idea that you haven't so firmly in your mind that you can answer questions about it like the truth, no matter how those questions are phrased or who's asking them."

"I'm not confident I can lie convincingly to Tony."

Nat tilted her head contemplatively. "Do you think you could lie to the UN? To Ross?"

Vision thought about it. He could recite facts and equations with no affect whatsoever. Surely he could rattle off a less than completely factually accurate statement with equal, or at least approximate, facility. "Yes, I believe I can."

"Then let's hope Tony doesn't ask."

He smiled at that. As he did, he dropped his eyes to Nat's hand, which still rested on his. While her touch was in no way objectionable, it didn't feel the way Wanda's touch did. Her hand didn't cause his to tingle, the physical contact didn't elicit a fluttering in his stomach or a yearning for more.

Nat slid her hand away and playfully shoved his shoulder, laughing as if he'd just told a joke. "Relax. This is your first deviation; it's not likely anyone is going to get suspicious yet. How many other people know you're able to look like this?"

"Five: Tony, Colonel Rhodes, Ms. Potts, Mr. Hogan, and Dr. Cho, who collaborated with Tony to install the holographic projector matrix. They have agreed to keep my identity private."

"All good people, but that's still a lot of people to trust with a secret."

"Perhaps, but it can't be helped now."

A genuine smile played on the corner of Natasha's lips. "True. Another lesson in covert ops: work with what you've got." She took a sip of her wine, then grew somber. "In all seriousness, if you hadn't warned us, we might all be sitting in a cell right now. Some of us might be dead. I heard one person say she'd rather die than be locked up again."

Vision tensed at the reference to Wanda. Nat observed his reaction.

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"I care about all of you," he said diplomatically.

"I know. But I've watched you, trained you, lived with you for over a year. I've watched the two of you. I know you feel a connection with her over and above what you feel for the rest of us. I trust that you want to protect her."

Vision hadn't imagined his feelings would be so transparent, even to someone as observant as Natasha. He answered her with a solemn nod.

"I know what it's like," she said sympathetically. "To feel that way about someone, and then to lose them. I understand being willing to risk everything for someone."

It was a surprising confession from her. But perhaps even as people made assumptions about Vision because of what he was, he had made assumptions about Natasha because of what she was: a former assassin, someone so competent, with such sangfroid, that she sometimes almost seemed more machine than human herself.

"Who?" he asked.

She was quiet for so long he thought she'd decided not to answer until she whispered, "Bruce."

"Dr. Banner?" Vision whispered back.

She nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said, not sure what else he could say. He supposes Dr. Banner hadn't felt the same way about her--otherwise he wouldn't have left--but it might pain Natasha to say so.

She shrugged. "It happens."

Such a casual dismissal gave him pause. Since the rift, he had been tormented not just by guilt and doubts but by his separation from Wanda. Had Bruce Banner's disappearance affected Natasha as deeply? She showed no outward sign of it. Perhaps she was simply stronger than he, or more jaded.

Nat smiled gently at his loss of words. "It happens. It sucks, but that's life."

Vision frowned. He wondered, now that he knew Wanda shared his feelings, if he could bear losing her again.


	5. Closing the Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realizing this might be the only night they get together, Wanda and Vision decide to make the most of it. (Contains explicit sex.)

Wanda looked up from her book at the very soft knock on the door of the bedroom she'd claimed as her own.

"Come in."

Vision phased through the door and immediately averted his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had already prepared for bed."

She looked down at the oversized teeshirt she wore as a nightgown, which gave him a view of more of her legs than he'd ever seen before.

"It's fine," she said quickly. She pushed herself off her bed and moved toward him, intending to reach for him, maybe kiss him, but right before she reached him she was overcome with shyness. "How was your lesson with Nat?" she asked.

He smiled self-consciously. "Her skills of deception are remarkable. I believe many of the tips she gave me will be useful."

"Did she play 'two truths and a lie' with you? I always hated that game. I always lost."

"No. No games. We just talked."

He was nervous, and was avoiding Wanda's eyes. "Vis, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just..." He sighed.

"What?"

He finally looked at her. "Wanda, are you sure this is what you want?" More slowly and quietly, he added, "Are you sure _I_ am what you want?"

She stared at him. "Of course. Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have kissed you if I weren't."

"You understand..." He wasn't sure how to finish that thought. How many of the possible ramifications he'd considered had occured to her?

 "What? That it will be hard? That it will be dangerous? And lonely? That I have no way of knowing when or if I'll ever see you again? I've thought about all of that. Nothing changes how I feel about you."

"And you're certain you wouldn't prefer to build a relationship with someone...less complicated?"

"Like who?" she asked incredulously, borderline angry. "I'm a fugitive on the run. I can't stay in one place for more than a week or two. And that doesn't even factor in that I have terrifying powers I'm still learning how to control. I'm not exactly 'uncomplicated relationship' material. I mean, who exactly do you think would be interested in that?"

"I'm certain either Mr. Wilson or Captain Rogers would be flattered by your attentions..."

She blinked. "Are you serious?"

He wasn't sure why what he'd said would give her the idea he might be joking, or why the suggestion seemed to displease her. He shrugged helplessly.

"They're both great guys," she said, "but I don't feel about them how I feel about you. Is it that easy for you? Would you be able to just...anyone who's convenient, you could just...decide to fall in love with them?"

He thought about when Natasha touched his hand during their façade of a date, how he'd felt nothing at the touch. "No," he admitted. "No, I couldn't. In fact, I can't imagine ever having such feelings for anyone but you."

Wanda suddenly couldn't look directly at him. She hadn't meant to say all that she'd said. She hadn't meant to say 'love'. But she had, and Vision hadn't rejected the term.

"I'm sure how I feel," she said. "Are you?" The question wasn't a challenge, or rhetorical. If he wasn't sure, she was prepared to back off. Perhaps she'd pushed him too much last night, moved too fast. After all, this was all brand new to him.

She didn't know he'd moved closer to her until she felt his finger on her chin. He gently tilted her head up to look at him, and was gazing at her with an intensity that felt like fire, that immediately stopped her thoughts in their tracks and sent a tingling through her body.

"I'm sure," he said before bending his neck and touching his lips to hers.

The kiss lasted for several seconds. When it ended, Wanda took Vision's hands and drew him to sit beside her on the bed. They looked at each other for a moment, and then Wanda reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes, letting her trace her fingers over every curve of his face. She leaned forward and brushed her lips over the paths her fingertips had explored, as if she were trying to map his features.

"Thank you," he said out of the blue.

"For what?" she asked between a kiss to his jawline and a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"For this."

She drew back to look at him, confused and slightly concerned by that sentiment. "It's not like I'm doing this as a favor to you. I'm doing this because I _want_ to do this."

"What I mean is...thank you for giving me a chance many people would not have granted me. You have always treated me as human, regarded me as an equal. That means more to me than you can ever know."

"When we first met I'd just tried to destroy you. And I'd just almost helped Ultron destroy the world. You gave me a chance in spite of that. That means more to me than you'll ever know," she countered.

He smiled, then took her hand in both of his. He ran his fingers between hers, and over her palm. He placed kisses on each of her fingertips, then trailed kissed down her palm to her wrist. Growing bolder, he kissed his way up her arm, over her shoulder, to her neck.

Wanda's self-restraint reached the breaking point. She wanted to touch him everywhere. She wanted him to touch _her_ everywhere. She lay back, tugging him down after her, lifting and spreading her knees to catch him between her thighs. She arched upward, aching to press her body to his. Her nightshirt rode up, exposing a stretch of stomach. Vision's hands slid up and down her waist.

Her hands retreated from his body long enough to pull her nightshirt off, dropping it on the floor.

Vision's eyes widened at the sight of her bare torso. He lightly, hesitantly, brushed his hands up her stomach, along her ribs, then finally over her breasts. She closed her eyes reveling in his touch and the feeling of his body between her legs.

He floated down, sliding against her, and softly kissed one erect nipple, then the other. Her fingers spread over the back of his head, encouraging him. His tongue ventured between his lips to feel the texture of her nipple and her areola. His tongue was firm, dry, smooth. It didn't feel like a human tongue. It felt better, and Wanda couldn't help but imagine how it would feel inside her. The thought aroused her even more. She locked her legs around his back and ground herself against him, and moaned in pleasure when Vision sucked her nipple between his teeth.

The sound of her moan was intoxicating to Vision. He wanted to hear it again, and again, and again.

He switched his lips to her other nipple, and his hand moved to where his mouth had been. He moved his body to grind his abs  against her crotch, wishing her underwear weren't in the way.

After a minute or two, his mouth released her nipple and he phased out of the grip of her legs. He floated above her. She looked up at him with curiosity and ardor, trusting that he wasn't going to abandon her like this. The sultry look on her face was the most arousing thing he had ever seen.

He hooked his fingers under the elastic of her underwear and slowly slid it down her legs, dropping it to the floor. Then he let his fingertips retrace their path back up her legs, slowly, reverently. He paused when he got to the angle where her thighs met her hips and only looked. He only looked at the dark, feathery hair on her mons veneris, the deep pink of her beautiful, glistening vulva. This was a view he had never dared let himself imagine he would ever enjoy.

Wanda writhed with want of him. "Vision, please, touch me," she begged.

He readily complied. His lips found hers at the same moment his hand slid between her legs, his tongue pushing between her lips as his fingers slipped between the wet folds of her labia. A sound somewhere between a moan and a squeak escaped her throat. She rocked her hips back and forth, pressing herself harder into his hand.

Wanda's head was swimming in waves of pleasure. She was already close when one of Vision's fingers found her clit and began rolling it rhythmically. Her head rolled back, pressing into the pillow, her eyes closed tight.

Vision drew back to observe her. He watched the pleasure on her face and listened to her breathing as he slightly altered the rhythm and the pressure of his fingers, trying to determine her preferences while taking his own pleasure from the sight and the feel of her.

Wanda grew stiff and gasped as Vision's fingers brought her to orgasm. When it was over, her body melted into the pillows.

Vision's touch grew lighter, and he began to draw his fingers away.

"Don't stop," she breathed.

He gladly resumed his ministrations.

"Are you sure you've never done this before?" she asked teasingly.

He looked sheepish. "I have never personally engaged in...physical affection with anyone other than you, but..."

"I guess you do have the internet at your fingertips," she said, trying to reassure him that she didn't judge him for his knowledge, however he got it.

"That is true," he said, glad he had an out to avoid explaining that he unfortunately retained JARVIS's memories of many of Tony's romantic escapades.

He dipped his head into the crook of her neck. She tilted her head to give him better access.

"Vis, you're still in your clothes," she noted.

"Mmhm."

"You should take them off. I want to look at you."

Vision drew away from her. She sat up and watched him with a mix of shyness and desire as he phased his clothes away.

She ran her hands over his chest. "From the first time I saw you, I've never been able to get over how beautiful you are." She leaned up and kissed his chest, running her lips over the texture of his vibranium skin. One hand trailed down his abs, then gently curled around his erection.

"Wanda," he moaned.

At the sound of her name, said with such pleasure and adoration, she lost all control. Breathing heavily, she pushed him down to the mattress with her entire body, covered his lips with hers like she was trying to devour him. She sucked his bottom lip between her teeth.

He made a sound like a whimper. She sat up quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I have never been better," he answered sincerely.

She smiled, realizing the absurdity of her fear that she'd hurt him.

She shifted her hips, feeling his erection beneath her sensitive folds. He was so _hard_ , harder than a human man ever could be. Everything about him was beyond perfect, and she couldn't believe she had the privilege of being with him.

"May I?" she asked.

His beautiful lips moved soundlessly a couple of times before he whispered, "Yes."

She lowered herself onto him, feeling him slide into her, filling her.

Vision felt the warm, silken embrace of Wanda's vagina slide down around his cock. She squeezed him, then began moving up and down. With each stroke the pleasure increased, until it spilled over in a sudden burst of ecstacy that spread through his body, forcing a hummed gasp between his lips. Then he sank back into the bed, the bliss mingling with a feeling of intense relaxation.

Wanda stilled, watching him. "Did you just...?"

"Yes."

"You're still..."

"Yes."

He was still erect, still hard inside her. He had orgasmed without ejaculation. It made sense; though his body was built on the design of a human male, it was powered entirely by the Mind Stone: he didn't eat, breath, or drink water, which also meant he didn't sweat, he didn't drool, he didn't pee. It made sense his body also wouldn't produce semen.

It crossed Wanda's mind they wouldn't have to worry about getting pregnant. Even if they wanted to, they could never genetically have a baby of their own. She wasn't sure if she was sad about that or not, but she knew it didn't change how she felt about Vision. It had no impact on how much she wanted to be with him.

How much she loved him.

She gazed at him, treasuring the expression on his face, one of complete contentment. And then he opened his eyes and looked up at her with adoration.

"Would you like to keep going?" he asked.

"Yes. If you want to."

He pulled her down to him, kissing her ravenously. He rolled over, adjusting his density to avoid putting too much weight on her, and slowly moved his hips forward and back, moving in and out of her, testing how deep he could go while taking care not to hurt her.

He gradually quickened his pace, encouraged first by the small smile that played on Wanda's lips, and then by the small, quick moans that escaped her lips with each thrust.

All sense of time, all conscious thought, all worries and fears were lost, banished by the pure sensations of their bodies touching. Vision kept up the pace without tiring. Wanda gripped him close with her hands on his back, her legs around his hips.

Wanda came again. Her lips parted and a series of gasps gave way to ragged breaths. The sight and sound of her orgasm and the way her muscles clenched around Vision sent him over the edge along with her.

When the haze wore off, Wanda's hands rose to cup Vision's face, hoping her eyes could convey the words she couldn't articulate just now. Vision kissed her tenderly, first on her lips, then her eyebrow, then her forehead, where he lingered for several seconds before he rose, sliding out of her, and lay down next to her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Wonderful."

He smiled. "Me too. That was... indescribable."

She scooted into his arms, which wrapped around her automatically.

"Can you stay here tonight? At least until I fall asleep?"

"Yes. I can stay all night."

As they lay in each others arms, the same thoughts drifted through their heads. Wanda realized she would have to tell the others about her and Vision, if they didn't figure it out themselves. Vision thought of Tony, how he would have to tell him the truth if he was going to be able to sneak off to see Wanda again. They both reflected that if they were going to keep seeing each other, it was going to be difficult, it was going to be dangerous. But neither was willing to say it wasn't worth the risks.

And so they said nothing. They just focused on enjoying the time they had together, treasuring it for however long it would last.


End file.
